Time For The High Roller

Posted on March 7, 2015March 7, 2015 by Dusty Roads

We took our time over lunch at the Venetian but finally it was time to begin our trip back toward the Linq. We had show tickets and we didn’t want to miss out on riding that huge Ferris Wheel. The High Roller.

The High Roller is at the bottom of the Linq promenade which makes it fun just to get to it with all kinds of shops and fountains along the way.

We bought our tickets from the concierge at the Linq. The price changes from the daytime to nighttime rates at 5 pm. It was 4:30. We would get the day rate while enjoying a desert sunset.

From the first time I saw the High Roller all I could think of was Star Wars. The white pods just made me think of something from one of those movies. It only needed a storm trooper!

Inside wasn’t what I expected. I had heard of wedding parties renting the pods and bars set up in them but they hardly seemed big enough for a crows, especially a rowdy crowd intent on drinking. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve never been on a Ferris Wheel enclosed like this.

The wheel is 550 ft high and the ride from start to finish is about 30 minutes. The pods move at about 1 ft/ sec and it never stops turning. Unlike a Ferris Wheel at a fair where it stops and starts to let passengers on and off, the passengers on the High Roller enter while the pod is slowly passing them by.

Inside is like command central with 8 monitor screens letting you watch the pods above and below your own.

Plus there the “talking head”. I found him very funny but Joe thought he was quite annoying. You’ll have to go and make your own decision.

But no matter what, taking this ride at sunset was a perfect time. It was relaxing and beautiful, The huge windows allowing an amazing view.

Alas, all things must come to an end and too soon we were back to the bottom preparing to step off the moving pod to good old terra firma.

I highly recommend this. Even for my sister, who says she is afraid of heights.

Lunch in The Courtyard

Posted on March 5, 2015March 5, 2015 by Dusty Roads

I was very thrilled that I managed to get out of the gondola after our ride and not fall into the canal. I was assured that they hadn’t lost a guest overboard yet that day and I didn’t want to be the first.

Decorations for the Chinese New Year were everywhere. We plan to see the Bellagio Gardens eventually but the display here at the Grand Canal Shoppes was pretty amazing.

After taking our fill of pictures of the Year of the Sheep we headed back toward the exit.

Since it was lunchtime we decided a good place for lunch was in the courtyard by the canal. We hadn’t been seated very long before costumed performers took center stage. The performances were marvelous.

It was easy to forget you were just inside a well decorated mall.

The way the facades were lit and the ceiling reflected light, it was easy to think you were outside, canal side in Venice.

Of course you can’t forget the food. Cibo molto buono!

Back to Vegas

Posted on March 3, 2015March 3, 2015 by Dusty Roads

Before I move on to the remainder of our stay in Vegas I thought I’d flash back to the Venetian Hotel for one last glimpse of the boat ride on the canal. I was thinking since it had been so long (2/1) since I posted about the trip that a little photo flashback would help set the stage for the rest of the story.

RIP Spock

Posted on March 1, 2015March 1, 2015 by Dusty Roads

I am a Trekkie. I admit it. I loved Star Trek the original series and Leonard Nimoy’s Spock was my favorite character. But while all the science fiction aficionados are morning Spock, we need to bid adieu to the man behind the Vulcan.

Leonard Nimoy was born and raised in Boston. Unlike many actors today I can never recall him being involved in scandals or unsavory publicity. The worse things I ever heard about was his dispute with William Shatner who played Captain Kirk. Shatner says the alleged feud is long over and that he an Nimoy were friends to the end.

Nimoy was 83 and suffered from COPD, a serious lung condition.

I think it is safe to say that he did live long and prospered. RIP Leonard/Spock. I for one will miss you.

I Bet I’m in Trouble!

Posted on February 28, 2015February 28, 2015 by Dusty Roads

Hi everyone. I want to thank so many of you who reached out to be sure I was ok. That was so nice. I’m sorry I’ve been neglectful.

So here’s the reason’s or excuses.

#1. New England has been snowed in!

We have had over 100 inches of snow this season and 68 inches of that fell in February. We had snow 20 days out of 28 and it set a record for 2nd coldest month since they started keeping records.

#2. My wolf photo shoot was canceled because we had 2 blizzards that weekend and even if they would have held the shoot I wasn’t driving all that way in a blizzard.

#3. I came down with a winter cold. 🙁 As a result I lost my mind. I just couldn’t get my thoughts in order to put them down on the page.

And the #4 reason I haven’t been posting….I gave myself a birthday present.

And it was a very bad thing. You see I am addicted to reading. When I have to go buy a book or order one from Amazon there are down times while I wait but because we’ve had so much bad weather I didn’t want to be stuck in the house without reading material so I gave myself a Kindle for my birthday. Now I have a book calling my name all the time! I really have to get a grip on myself!

I do still have some more Las Vegas stories for you and a Disney vacation is right around the corner so I’ll try to get my act together and gets some new posts up for you.

I’ll need to update you on the kitties too. Rocky and Buddy are always good for some stories.

So I apologize for being MIA for so long and I promise I’ll start applying myself again. Many thanks to all of you for sticking around and waiting for me.

Dusty